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Category: Posts
“Let’s Eat Orlando” A Podcast
I was a guest on this podcast hosted by Amy Drew Thompson, the beloved food editor of The Orlando Sentinel and ‘Biggie’ Bencomo. Listen on your way to eat something delicious! I so enjoyed the great questions these two curious, intelligent, food and restaurant community leaders. A wide ranging conversation…
TREASURE BOOK, ‘GRAMERCY TAVERN’
Chef Tom Colicchio was the Chef/Partner of ‘Gramercy Tavern’ in NYC when he invited me to come up and do a “Share Our Strength” dinner with him in September of 1999. We’d been to the beautiful restaurant and the more casual ‘Tavern’ side a few time by then and were…
Treasure Book: Jean-Louis Palladin
In February of 1996 I was invited to participate in the first ever International James Beard Dinners in Mexico City. The other chefs included Thomas Keller, Susur Lee, Jean-Louis Palladin, Charlie Trotter, Rick Bayless and Todd English. Like I say, ‘the first‘ of these. We were all excited for the…
A TREASURE BOOK; PAUL BERTOLLI, “CHEZ PANISSE COOKING”
I have had the great pleasure of knowing or at least meeting many of the folks who are in my Treasure Books series. That is not the case here but hopefully it will be rectified one day! Goodness knows I have admired Paul Bertolli’s craftsmanship from afar in the form…
‘THE WAY WE COOK’, SAVEUR
I believe it was in 1994 that Saveur Magazine began publication. I was in the midst of beginning to write a cookbook for Random House titled, “New World Cuisine”. While writing a book it is very hard to do almost anything else. It is simply way too time consuming doing…
TWO ‘FOREVER MEMORY’ NIGHTS
From The Jacques Pépin Foundation. A recap! February 18, 2025 at Sereia in Miami, FL Diners at the beautiful Sereia restaurant were treated to an incredible six-course meal crafted by Miami’s top chefs, including Henrique Sá Pessoa, Norman Van Aken, Miguel Massens, Michael Beltran, Danny Ganem, Michael Schwartz, and Soraya Caraccioli-Kilgore. The menu of dishes inspired by Jacques…
Outstanding in the Field and 4 Roots Farm Dinner
In a dynamic and sure to be delicious collaboration CEO of ‘4 Roots Farm’, John Rivers announced an event with the Farm and the roving, imaginative group knowns as, “Outstanding in the Field”. The meal will feature a tour of the amazing, multi-dimensional property that ‘4Roots Farm’ is and then…
TREASURE BOOK SERIES: STAFF MEALS
The video expresses much about why I consider this a treasure book. Let me prelude it by saying when you are a restaurant owner or the chef of one this book is a godsend. We know how tough this business is. The general populace has learned much about this over…
‘THE FOUR SEASONS’, A TREASURE BOOK
I bought this book or it was given to me while working with Charlie Trotter and Carrie Nahabedian in Lake Forest, Il. at ‘Sinclair’s’. If it was a gift it probably came from Gordon Sinclair who owned the restaurant along with businessman Marshall Field IV. Gordon was great at sharing…
A TREASURE BOOK, “LUTÈCE”, By André Soltner
The beloved Chef who wrote this ‘Treasure Book’ I love passed away in January of this year. As the video portrays I have memories and things I want to share with you. His Memorial which I was invited to was quite recent. The turnout included many of the top chefs…
PODCAST WITH CHEF MIGUEL MASSENS AND MYSELF
A podcast hosted by award winning longtime journalist and radio personality Linda Gassenheimer titled, “Food News and Views” is available here at the link. On it Linda interviewed the Chef de Cuisine 0f ‘Sereia’ restaurant Miguel Massens in Coconut Grove as well as me regarding the upcoming Jacques Pépin Foundation…
THE TROTTER PROJECT
Where to begin? For now let’s start with present tense. This month I became the newest Board Member of The Trotter Project. You can copy and paste from below and put that in your browser. It will show you how the vision of Chef Charlie Trotter continues to flourish despite…
EATER NAMES ORLANDO’S ‘TOP 38!’
Eater 38 is out with the top honors. “Legendary Florida chef Norman Van Aken continues to navigate the restaurant’s direction along with chef de cuisine Carlos Robles Molina at the helm. Even in its third incarnation, the menu’s original Latin-Caribbean DNA is still intact, though flavors from Japan and Southeast…
“Culture and Cuisine”. The Seeds of Fusion!
I purchased this book at a shop on Fleming Street in Key West in February of 1988. I was part owner of my first restaurant. It was called “MIRA”. I was also in the middle of a huge amount of culinary self-analysis as to what I was going to do…
’90 at 90′ Galas for Chef Jacques Pépin!
The Director of Operations for the Jacques Pépin Foundation, Marissa Ain and the foundation’s Culinary Producer, Susan Wilbur invited me to head up two major dinners in Florida for the program titled, “90 at 90” to celebrate the life of the amazing Chef and Educator. The ones I am helping…